So my friends, you are playing Rift: Planes of Telara and you’ve decided to sheath that dagger, put down the sword, unstring that bow and pick up the lute. If you enjoy helping your friends then you have made an excellent choice.
A few disclaimers first. Firstly this is all opinion and should be considered as such. Secondly, this guide was made during Beta it’s subject to change. Thirdly I’m writing this from a group support perspective and have therefore not discussed the Bard’s direct dmg abilities. Finally as of writing the max level was 27 and therefore higher levels may result in changes to the guide.
Who would play a Bard?
You, otherwise why would you be here 
Seriously, a player who cares more about helping others to be better at what they do; someone who doesn’t care that parsers may not show a Bard’s contribution; the kind of person that likes to have a trick for any encounter.
Abilites
As you may have surmised the Bard’s strength lies in helping others to better at what they do. S/He does this primarily through buffs. These come in three varieties:
Motifs
Fanfares
Anthems
Motifs
Motifs are short term (max 30secs) buffs that stack with one and other, affect the party/raid and can be considered the Bard’s raison d’etre. A 51 point Bard will have access to 7. Now some of you may already be thinking “7 buffs with 30 sec duration? Will I have time for anything else?” Oh yes my friend, you certainly will. Let’s take a quick look at these motifs:
Motif of Bravery – Increase Attack power & spellpower by X. Improves with ranks.
Motif of Focus – Increase crit chance and spell crit chance by 5%. Understandably does not improve with ranks.
Motif of Regeneration – Heals party/raid members by x over duration. Improves with ranks.
Motif of Tenacity – Reduces dmg taken by party/raid by 5%. Does not improve with ranks.
Motif of Grandeur – Increases healing recieved by party/raid by 5% Does not improve with ranks.
Motif of Encouragement – Increase mana by 10%, Energy by 50, Power by 50. Does not improve with ranks.
Wait that’s only 6 motifs? Aha! With skillpoints spent at Tier 6 on Resonance, having Bravery Focus & Tenacity running will automatically trigger a buff improving *all* of your party’s attributes by up to 10%.
Fanfares
Fanfares are 1hr buffs, party/raid wide, of which a player may only be affected by 1 type per Bard.
Fanfare of Vigour – Increase Endurance by X. Improves with rank.
Fanfare of Power – Increase Str/Dex by X. Improves with rank.
Fanfare of Knowledge – Increase Wis/Int by X. Improves with rank.
Anthems
Anthems are constant party/raid wide buffs. A player may only be affected by 1 type per Bard.
Anthem of Glory – Increase armour value by X. Improves with rank.
Anthem of Competence – Increase movement speed by 15%. Out of combat only (unless Tier5 skillpoint spent)
Anthem of Defiance – Increase Mag resistance by X. Can be improved with ranks.
Anthem of Fervor – Reduce ability cost by 10%. Does not improve with ranks.
Verses
There are only three verses, the first of which requires a minimum of 26 points and they have a 2 or 3 min timer. The two verses I expect Bards to enjoy are:
Verse of Vitality – Heals party/raid for X, unlocked at 44. Cd means you won’t be using every fight but handy for those oh boy moments.
Verse of Joy – Restore Mana/Energy/Power over 15 secs. Again the cd means you won’t be using every fight, but it should reduce the party’s downtime.
Whew! As you can see, that’s a lot of buffs. Fortunately (for balance & finger health reasons) a Bard will only have to maintain one Fanfare & Anthem. Whilst I try and keep all motifs up in combat, the choice is yours to prioritize.
If you remember the introduction (it was a lot of buffs ago!) I stated I wouldn’t be discussing the Bard’s damage abilities, but no mention of Bard would be complete without discussing Cadence.
Put simply, Cadence is 2sec channel which causes damage and adds three points to the mob. These points (as with all rogues) are used to determine the strength of finishers. So why is Cadence special. Simple. With 3 skillpoints spent cadence heals the party/raid for 100% of the damage inflicted.
The Bard finishers are called Codas. All of the Codas have uses but in line with our discussion of the Bard as a support character we must mention Coda of Restoration. A party/raid heal, the strength of which depends on the number of points built up.
The combination of cadence & Coda of Restoration may not make you some sort of rogue Chloromacer, but the healing it pushes out will make the main healer’s life considerably easier. In Warfronts you may well top the healing tables. Splash healing admittedly, but it’s great to see the screen fill with green numbers.
Partner Souls
Whilst I personally added Ranger (for the +crit) and Saboteur (for the +dex) feel free to compliment the Bard with whatever souls suit your play style.
Conclusion
I hope that I’ve shown just how many ways the Bard can help the group and that’s without even discussing the codas which cause debuffs.
Personally even with the ability to switch roles I tended to solo as a Bard, but that’s me. Remember you can switch roles while questing and pick up your lute only when you’re in a group.
Rather than add a 51 build (what’s the point, just pick everything!) I’ve added a 31 point build to show how I would prioritize a Bard’s progression. You can of course change as you see fit but I cannot over-emphasize the Tier 1 skill Bardic Inspiration. Unless you want to cast those motifs every 15 seconds! Also and regarding the motifs, I urge you to create a macro. I suggest Bravery Tenacity and Focus being grouped together in order to proc Resonance if you have specced that far.
Author: Greywolf Rex
